This invention relates generally to an improved nose piece assembly for eyeglasses and more particularly to an adjustable nose piece assembly that can be easily adjusted to improve the fit of the eyeglasses thereby improving visual acuity and diminishing the annoyance often associated with wearing eyeglasses.
Selection of the appropriate corrective lenses is only the first step in curing a visual defect. The corrective lenses must be mounted within an eyeglasses frame that maintains perfect alignment between the optical axis of the corrective lens and that of the eye. Eyeglasses are designed to correct defects in vision commonly caused by refractive errors inherent in the eye. As a result of these refractive errors, light entering the eyes is not focused directly onto the retina of the eye. The corrective lenses of the eyeglasses compensate for these refractive errors by refracting the incoming rays of light so that the light entering the eye is focused directly onto the retina. Since the rays of light refracted by the corrective lenses pass through another medium--air--before entering the eye, the slightest tilt or improper alignment of the eyeglasses produces a disturbing effect that inhibits maximum visual acuity. The stronger the corrective lenses, the more severe are the aberrations produced by the wearer looking through any part of the lenses other than the optical axis. Conventional eyeglasses have a nose piece that is rigidly fixed in size, shape and position and consequently cannot be adjusted to perfectly align the optical axis of the corrective lens with that of the eye to provide maximum visual acuity.
Eyeglasses can also be a source of constant annoyance for the person wearing them if they are not properly fitted. A nose piece that is too narrow continuously presses upon the nose of the wearer producing sensitive areas that are easily irritated by the eyeglasses. On the other hand, a nose piece that is too wide provides improper support for the eyeglasses upon the nose so that they are constantly sliding down the bridge of the nose impairing visual acuity and constantly annoying the wearer.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a nose piece assembly for adjustably mounting a nose piece onto an eyeglasses frame.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable nose piece assembly for eyeglasses that easily and quickly adjusts the positional relationship between the nose piece and its associated eyeglasses frame in order to perfectly align the optical axis of the corrective lenses with that of the eyes to ensure maximum visual acuity.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable nose piece assembly for eyeglasses that mounts the nose piece onto the cross piece of the eyeglasses frame by means of a mounting member having a threaded end portion that engages the nose piece and draws the nose piece to or away from the cross piece of the eyeglasses frame in response to rotational motion imparted to the mounting member thereby raising or lowering the corrective lenses with respect to the eyes.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a nose piece assembly that is capable of mounting nose pieces having standardized outer dimensions and various internal sizes and shapes into various eyeglasses frames in order to standardize the connection of nose pieces to eyeglasses frames thereby making nose pieces of various sizes and shapes interchangeable with each other.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a nose piece assembly that is capable of mounting nose pieces having numerous different internal sizes and shapes onto a single eyeglasses frame in order to perfectly align the optical axis of the corrective lenses with that of the eyes to provide maximum visual acuity.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a nose piece assembly that is capable of mounting nose pieces having numerous different internal sizes and shapes onto a single eyeglasses frame in order to improve the fit and comfort of the eyeglasses.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a nose piece assembly for eyeglasses that includes a guide way for securely maintaining the alignment between the nose piece and the eyeglasses frame.
Other and further objects of the present invention, together with the features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear in the course of the following description.